Southern California -- this just in

SWAT officers respond to two Westside incidents

May 11, 2012 | 4:16
am

By 3 a.m. Friday, Los Angeles Police Department SWAT officers had already had a hectic night, with call-outs to deal with barricaded suspects in two Westside neighborhoods, including one in which a man took his girlfriend and two young children hostage, one of them an infant.

The incidents began about 8 p.m., Thursday, when a man attempted to rob a retired police officer in the Wilshire area. The victim, armed with a gun, then chased the robber to a clothing store on Robertson Boulevard near Beverly Boulevard, said LAPD Lt. Darius Bone.

The suspect barricaded himself in the store’s bathroom, and SWAT officers were called out, surrounding the store. After negotiations lasting several hours, the suspect gave himself up, Bone said.

No one was hurt in the incident, "just a lot of police resources" were used, Bone said.

Shortly after 1 a.m. Friday, before SWAT officers had a chance to leave the Robertson call, a call came in from Venice officers needing assistance with a man firing at them from an apartment.

They went to an apartment at 1512 Penmar Ave., where patrol officers had earlier responded to a call of a screaming woman. When patrol officers arrived, they heard gunshots, and believing they were being fired at, called for backup, said Sgt. Richard Parks.

Several patrol cars responded, followed by the SWAT officers from the Robertson scene, as well as an LAPD helicopter, which lit up the street from above.

A standoff lasted about 90 minutes, with the man walking on the balcony and within the room, armed with a handgun, while officers swarmed the area, according to LAPD radio traffic. At one point, he allegedly fired a shot within the apartment.

The suspect finally broke out a window of the apartment, jumped out and began to run across a backyard, Parks said.

At that point "there was an officer-involved shooting," Parks said. The suspect, whose name was not immediately available, was shot in the torso. He was taken into custody and was able to walk from the scene. He is in stable condition at a hospital, Parks said.

A woman and two young children were taken from the apartment unharmed. No officers were hurt in the incident.